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Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

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Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#41

Post by vladvasiliu »

virtualritz wrote: post #17

The one thing I'd put in context is "don't waste time on commuting". In Europe for sure and possibly many parts of Asia like Japan or bigger metropolises in China etc. most people will commute by public transport. You can read. Whenever I had a job where I commuted at least an hour a day, the number of books I read, per month, went from 2–3 to 10 or more.

In the Paris area, if you commute during rush hour, you'll probably been stuck between 100 people per square meter. At best, you can listen to some podcasts or audiobooks.

When I still had to work from the office, I was fortunate enough to be able to move my hours earlier so I could avoid morning rush hour and could, indeed, read in the morning. Afternoons I couldn't, more often than not.

It was just wasted time. I can also read on my couch before I start working from home. I've read many more books since I was able to WFH on most days.

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#42

Post by Cthulhu_ »

HexPhantom wrote: post #34
virtualritz wrote: post #17

The one thing I'd put in context is "don't waste time on commuting". In Europe for sure and possibly many parts of Asia like Japan or bigger metropolises in China etc. most people will commute by public transport. You can read. Whenever I had a job where I commuted at least an hour a day, the number of books I read, per month, went from 2–3 to 10 or more.

Public transport makes commuting less wasteful, but I am not sure it makes a long commute free

Definitely not; I'm looking at a possible new job, but public transit to get there is an hour and a half. Even though they only ask you to be in the office two days a week, that's 6 hours a week I won't get back.

I mean I still want to apply to the job to see if they offer me a significant step up in terms of wages (doubtful), but I'd rather have something closer to home.

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#43

Post by VividVisions »

pdamoc wrote: post #21

I cant' believe it's almost 10 years since he died. My favorite quote of his is "Who needs a bucket list when you have love?” I wish more people would take his ideas seriously, especially his "Collective Code Construction Contract".

That's such a great quote. Unexpected and fitting.

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#44

Post by Cthulhu_ »

MithrilTuxedo wrote: post #5

I upped the font size on my Pixel recently and this is one of those sites where (in Firefox) the sidebar takes up more than 50% of the width of the screen and retains tiny text while the article itself wraps on a couple words per line.

In the sprit of the article, "grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Mentioning these things in a comment is neither accepting of how it is nor changing it. You can't change the site - the author died. You can change your browser or reading mode or whatever. Or you can just accept it is the way it is.

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#45

Post by baud9600 »

_carbyau_ wrote: post #24
bch wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can't turn a river around with a stick Somebody forgot to tell this[0] guy. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi

That's a lot of rock. It is a thing with humans. We : 1. overestimate how much we can do in a short amount of time. 2. underestimate how much we can do incrementally over a long amount of time.

Someone should put this somewhere. In a book or a poster. On a LinkedIn post for managers

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#46

Post by zaik »

neuroticnews25 wrote: post #39

Admittedly I don't have much life wisdom, but my strong intuition is happiness is a measure, not a target, and you shouldn't optimize for it. All this "science of happiness" talk feels, I don't know, spiritually offputting.

Why exactly should someone acknowledge their unhappiness but then do nothing about it?

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#47

Post by circlefavshape »

"explore the world without desire"

I don't know how I feel about this. I know when I can manage to accept things I feel better overall, but there is real joy in getting what you wanted - in doing something you enjoy, and realising that you're enjoying it while you're doing it, and rejoicing in that

Detachment is all very well, but attachment brings higher highs as well as lower lows

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#48

Post by imhoguy »

circlefavshape wrote: post #47

"explore the world without desire" I don't know how I feel about this. I know when I can manage to accept things I feel better overall, but there is real joy in getting what you wanted - in doing something you enjoy, and realising that you're enjoying it while you're doing it, and rejoicing in that Detachment is all very well, but attachment brings higher highs as well as lower lows

From my own experience, it is about lowering expectations, not detachement. World is full of things and processes I can't control, experiencing them without expectations gives me peace and joy, and I attach to them then in such blissful state.

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#49

Post by xenocratus »

zaik wrote: post #46
neuroticnews25 wrote: post #39

Admittedly I don't have much life wisdom, but my strong intuition is happiness is a measure, not a target, and you shouldn't optimize for it. All this "science of happiness" talk feels, I don't know, spiritually offputting.

Why exactly should someone acknowledge their unhappiness but then do nothing about it?

Because we have a limited amount of time and energy and other things might be more valuable to us. tbh, even this list kind of leans toward improving other measures as a means of increasing happiness. You could just write the article as "things to improve in your life", and then at the end go "oh yeah, and you'll probably be a bit happier too".

Re: Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#50

Post by bansalvip »

I appreciate how this article centers on 'you,' encouraging me to look within myself. I realize that many people seek to correct their lives through external influences. I wrote something a while back on the topic of happiness - https://vipulbansal.substack.com/p/the-key-pillars-of-human-...
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